Morrison Foerster, a leading global law firm, is pleased to announce the arrival of Chloe Cina as a partner in the National Security Group, based in London. Cina, a globally renowned leader in international and UK financial sanctions and export controls, brings over 18 years of legal and banking compliance experience to Morrison Foerster gained in the public and private sector.
Cina, a criminal barrister and international lawyer, joins the firm from Deutsche Bank. At Deutsche Bank, she was global head of sanctions advisory, leading a multilingual team of U.S.-, EU-, German-, and UK-qualified lawyers advising on sanctions compliance. In 2008, Cina joined the UK Treasury Solicitor’s Department, where she worked in the National Security team on terrorism and sanctions-related litigation. In government, she led the UK Iran Nuclear legal team and was responsible for nearly all Iran-related litigation in the domestic and EU courts, including the largest and most politically sensitive damages case ever brought against HM Treasury. Cina has advised on numerous sanctions regimes, sectors, and products and is widely recognized as a trusted legal advisor for sanctions advice, enforcement, investigations, and compliance matters in the UK and EU.
“Chloe’s vast experience will be invaluable to our global clients, especially those in the UK, Europe, the United States, and Asia, who are experiencing a dramatic increase in the pace of complex economic sanctions being imposed year-over-year,” said John E. Smith, co-head of Morrison Foerster’s National Security practice and former director of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). “Chloe’s extensive UK government and financial sector sanctions experience further cements MoFo’s position as a destination for multidimensional sanctions, anti-money laundering, and anti-financial crime matters.”
Cina adds further depth to Morrison Foerster’s market-leading global National Security practice. The firm’s global Sanctions practice includes five former OFAC veterans; in addition to partners John Smith and Rachel Fiorill, the firm’s senior former OFAC team includes of counsels Andrea Delisi and Elyse Martin, the latter of whom joined the firm in December 2023. The practice also includes former U.S. Department of Justice sanctions official Brandon Van Grack, and European economic sanctions and national security practitioners Hayley Ichilcik and Felix Helmstädter. Cina joins the expanding London Litigation Group, which has experienced robust growth in recent years. Other new additions to the group include Litigation partner Ben Summerfield in October 2023, a four-strong Intellectual Property team led by Steven James in December 2022, and the expansion of the firm’s global Competition/Antitrust and UK National Security practice with the arrival of partner Marie-Claire Strawbridge in 2022.
“Morrison Foerster’s reputation as the go-to firm for global sanctions, coupled with its unmatched government bench strength—with diverse backgrounds across major financial hubs worldwide, including the US, UK, EU, Hong Kong, and Tokyo—were huge draws for me,” said Cina. “I am excited to bring a new angle to the London practice and collaborate with colleagues across the firm’s global platform to deliver a seamless offering that helps our clients address their most pressing sanctions and financial crime challenges. Having advised banks under a Deferred Prosecution Agreement and a Cease and Desist Order, particularly during the unprecedented wave of Russia sanctions, gives me a clearer understanding of how to provide strategic and pragmatic advice to financial institutions and their clients on complex and novel legal issues straddling multiple jurisdictions.”
Cina is widely recognized for her commitment to advocacy training for the legal profession, and is an advocacy trainer for Middle Temple and head of the Employed Bar Advocacy Program. She is a thought leader in her practice area, regularly contributing to international conferences, webinars, panels and roundtables. Cina is an examiner for the ACAMS Sanctions Certification, writing components for both this course and the International Compliance Association equivalent. She was a Pegasus Scholar practicing at the Paris Bar and was awarded a full scholarship for her European Masters in Human Rights completed in Venice, Italy, and Bilbao, Spain. She is a qualified barrister in England and Wales.